ALUM ROCK 
PARK 



SAN JOSE'S 
BEAUTIFUL 
RESORT 






V! 



MINERAL . WATERS, 
BATHS . ETC. 



PUBLISHED BY 

SAN JOSE AND SANTA CLARA 
RAILROAD COMPANY 



San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. 

VERY appropriately has San Jose been called "The Garden City." Lying in the heart 
of the Santa Clara Valley, itself a vast garden between long stretches of wooded moun- 
tains, the city is almost tropical with its shaded avenues, its beautiful residences, sur- 
rounded by spacious lawns, handsome palms and foliage trees, and plants a mass of bloom. 

But San Jose claims by natural right what no tropical country possesses — a climate unex- 
celed in all the world. Without extremes, its summer months are delightful, and the rigors of 
winter are never felt here. Yet the climate is bracing, stimulating to action and producing 
health. 

Early in April the countless acres of orchards reaching from San Jose to the mountains 
lying to the east and west, and even far up on their sides, burst into bloom and liold a carnival 
of color indescribably beautiful. Along miles of smooth, level roads, one may ride between 
orchards of prune trees snowy white with blossoms, contrasted here and there with the delicate 
pink of the quince and apple and the deeper shade of the peach. Over these millions of blos- 
soms swarms of bees hum their delight and the air is laden with fragrance that is wafted miles 
away. 

This is one of the sights that tourists come to see. Indeed, the opening the new coast 
railway is fast bringing San Jose into the front ranks as a tourist center. Lick Observatory, with 
its wonderful telescope, and Saratoga Springs are within short staging distances, while Alum Rock 
Park with its many attractions, among which are numerous mineral springs, is easily reached by 
electric motor cars. 

Not only may the wealthy sojourn here with pleasure, but it will also be found an ideal 
place for families of moderate means. Educatiimal advantages of the best may be obtained in 
San Jose. Manufacturing interests are increasing. The development of adjacent oil fields has 
brought the price of fuel to an exceptionally low figure, and soon home markets will consume the 
products of this section, saving for the producer enormous freights on eastern shipments and 
giving him the full benefit of his labor. It is safe to say that within a few years this great val- 
ley will be divided into smaller orchards, each the home of a prosperous and happy family. 

Considering the many advantages of this favored section in a favored State, it needs no 
prophet to foretell the brilliant future of city, valley and the home-makers in their midst. 



A Natural ParK. 



Among the mountains on the eastern edge of Santa Clara Valley lies Alum Rock Canyon, 
within which is San Jose's extensive and beautilul reservation and park. This is one of the most 
delightful places for seekers of health and pleasure on the Pacific Coast, and offers the further 
advantage of being easily accessible. Only eight miles from San Jose, it is reached by the Alum 
Rock Electric Railway in thirty minutes, and is rapidly becoming popular to visitors at all sea- 
sons of the year. Not only is this canyon attractive by reason of its picturesque glimpses of 

woodland hills and streams, but because of its numerous 
mineral springs, exceeding in number, quality and \'ariety 
those of any other resorts of a similar nature in California. 

The city of San Jose has conserved and utilized these 
remarkalale waters for public use by a liberal and intelligent 
i 




Fountain and Bath. 



application of funds, and is annually devoting considerable sums of money to the adornment and 
development of this spot, which possesses so many natural beauties. 

From San Francisco or Oakland, these springs may be reached in two and one-half hours, 
and persons seeking health or pleasure may leave either of these cities on the morning train and 
return the same evening, after spending the greater part of the day in the park, wandering along 
the shaded paths, drinking its waters and refreshing themselves in its tub or plunge baths, en- 
joying an outing unri\aled for the variety of its pleasures and the ease of its attainment. 



TKe Mineral Springs. 

The variety ot mineral waters in Alum Ruck Canyon is 
remarkable. There are hot and cold sulphur, soda and mag- 
nesia springs, as well as mixtures of sulphur, soda, magnesia 




»r>- and Band Stand. 



arsenic, iron, etc., and their sulphates, all of which are unequaled for their strength and beneficial 
efTects. The flow of water from all of these springs is copious, so that baths may be supplied 
from nearly all of them. 

There are private sulphur, Turkish and common tub baths, with plunges, for ladies and 
gentlemen. Here may be found, also, the largest public sulphur swimming bath in the United 
States, an immense plunge roofed with glass and filled with natural sulphur water at ninety 
degrees Fahrenheit, piped directly into the tank from numerous tunnels in the nearby mountains. 
From one of these tunnels issue three streams of different waters, scarcely more than an inch 
apart. One is black sulphur, or sulphide of iron; one is soda, 
and the third magnesia water. All of these are of pronounced 
strength. Tiiere are also springs of both hot and cold drink- 
ing water, composed of soda, magnesia, iron and their sul- 
phates; and a remarkable spring furnishing a mixture of 




Canyon Po-wer Station. 



sulphur, magnesia and arsenic, which has been found very beneficial in cases of rheumatism, 
Bright' s disease and other kidney and stomach troubles and malarial affections. 



Geo. W. Seifert, M. D. 
A. McMahon, M. D. 
J. McMahon, M. D. 
J. R. CuRNOW, M. D. 



H. J. B. Wright, M. D. 
W. D. McDouGAL, M. D. 
J. E. Truman, M. D. 
J. Underwood Hall, M. D. 

On the Way to the ParK. 



W. E. Keith, M. D. 
P. M. Lusson, M. D. 
H. B. Gates, M. D. 



At First and Santa Clara streets will be found the office 
of the Alum Rock Division of the San Jose and Santa Clara 
Electric Railway, and, according to schedule, the commodious 
electric cars, which make frequent trips to and from the Park. 
The person in charge of this office, or the conductor on the 




Entering tKe Tunnel. 



car, will sell round trip tickets at twenty-five cents each, and will give courteously any informa- 
tion that may be asked for by strangers. 

Taking the car at this point, the traveler is carried eastward, passing the splendid buildings 
of the State Normal School the High School and Carnegie 
Libiar> \l\ situated m Washmgton Square one block to the 
south from the car hne He will be corned past beautiful 
homes, surrounded by spacious grounds East San Jose will 
be reached ind through this part of the city the way hes 




In tHe Woods B 



on a beautiful avenue, between whose trees he may catch glimpses of broad fields and thrifty 
orchards; of the golf links; and just at the mouth of the canyon one of the finest olive orchards 
in the State, known as the Pala Rosa. This orchard covers seventy- five acres; its trees, with 
their soft, green foliage, in full bearing, and is in itself suffic- 
ient attraction for the trip to those who have never seen the 
trees, which were introduced from Spain by the'^padres hun 
dreds of years ago. At this point the car enters a canyon, 
one of the grandest on the coast, and one charming vista after 




itH the Cliffs. 



another deliyhts the eye. Al)(iut a quarter of a mile above the ]jower house at the mouth uf tlie 
canyon, to the left of the car going out, lies one of the largest, if not the largest, meteors 
in the world, its estimated weight being two thousand tons. It is near the track, and may be 
plainly seen from the car, tjut for large parties conductors are instructed to stop, so that 
those wishing to do so may inspect the huge black object. 

Three quarters of a mile beyond, on the same side of the car, will be seen Alum Rock 
itself, standing like a gigantic sentinel at the entrance to the city's park. Another huge rock on 
the opposite side of the canyon, which is very narrow here, forms a massive gateway into the 

beautiful resort. Here the car enters a tunnel cut through 
the large rock on the right, and passing out, winds along 
the banks of beautiful Penetentia Creek, with cliffs towering 
hundreds of feet above it, until the park, with its aviary, its 
deer ].iark, its springs and baths is reached. 




. Pala Rosa Olive OrcKard. 



Here we will give the tourist in charge to the city park officials, who will courteously point 
out the various points of interest and give directions for reaching the ditferent springs, the 
baths, etc. We would suggest, however, that if the tourist wishes one of the pleasantest ex- 
periences of his life, he should take a mineral bath. Whether he be blessed with health or 
not, he will feel wonderfully refreshed by it, and after a dreamless sleep, he will find a car waidng 
to carry him back to the beautiful Garden City. 

THe New Hotel. 

A large and commodious hotel will be erected in the park 
almost immediately. The lease, which includes the right to 
the use of all mineral waters, bathing privileges, etc., has 
already been granted by the mayor and common council of 
San Jose. The building will stand on the site of the present 




ParK Depot. 



deer park. Excavations for the fouiulaticins hdw already been besun and the work uf construc- 
tion w-ill be rushed to com])letion in the spring. A j^icture of the hotel as it will appear is 
here given. It will be a handsome structure, with every possible modern appliance and conven- 
ience for the pleasure and comfort of its guests, and will be conducted on strictly first-class 
principles. 

One of its main features will be its fine Ijathing facilides. It will have immense baths of all 
kinds of mineral waters, the bath house being so constructed that guests can reach it from every 
main iiall oi the hotel without exposing themsehes to cold, yet so arranged that no odor of the 

mineral waters shall reach the guests in the main building. 
Fountains sujiplying any of the waters at present developed, 
or any that may be developed in the future, will be placed 
so that guests may enjoy these for drinking, as well as for 
lathing, without leaxing the buikling. 




The Ne'wr Hotel in the ParK. 



varieties of water, magnificent scenery and ease 
greatest places of its kind on this continent. 



In fact, this will be the most thoroughly e(|uipped resort on this coast, and with its eighteen 



of accessibility will doubtless become one of the 



A Trip to the West. 

Other points of interest which may be reached by the San Jose and Santa Clara Railway, are 
West San Jose, the Alameda and the historic little town of Santa Clara, originally intended to be 
the metropolis of the valley. The car may be taken at First and Santa Clara streets (though 
care should be taken to ascertain if it be a through car, if 
one desires to reach the last named place) and will furnish 
a most interesting ride. 

Some three miles in length stretches the Alameda, a 
beautiful, winding avenue, laid out more than a hundred years 




Meteor at the MoutH of the Canyon. 



ago by the mission fathers, the only road betweeiii Mission Santa Clara and San Jose. Recently 
this road has been remodeled, and now it is line(| with handsome residences. College Park, the 
home of the University of the Pacific, a Methoqist institution of standing, lies midway between 
the two towns, a collection of pretty homes in the setting of a seemingly natural park. 

The old mission of Santa Clara is well worth a visit, though all but its interior has been re- 
stored. Built in 1776, the old church was found in danger of rapid decay and was covered 
over with another structure. Within it is as tlie Indians built it under the direction of the 
padres, who labored also with their hands, and its frescoes and other decorations do credit to 
the neophytes that executed them. 

Santa Clara College, whose buildings occupy several acres on the land of the old mission, 
must not be missed. Here the stranger will be greeted by courteous priests, ever ready to 
receive the visitor, who will guide him through the buildings and grounds, showing him books 
yellow with age, brought from Spain when the mission was young, and numerous relics and 
objects of interest, the like of which can be seen only about an old mission. 

The town of Santa Clara invites one to st;oll through its streets. Here are homes that 
once sheltered Spanish grandees and their households, unoccupied some of them, and falling into 
decay, but vine-covered and filled with romantic interest. Should one meet an old resident, he 
might hear stories of Dons and Alcaldes that would hold him wrapt, for once the little town was 
as gay as it is now quiet, and romance centers about its ancient families, and holds the interest 
of the visitor within its boundaries. 




LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 




021 929 614 9 ^ 



